


Back to School for Lulu!

by AnonEMouseJr, Evilhumour_Author



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22069165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEMouseJr/pseuds/AnonEMouseJr, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilhumour_Author/pseuds/Evilhumour_Author
Summary: Second in the Testing-verse, and a part of the greater "Powers-That-Be" multiverse. After receiving her test results, Luna has decided to take this chance to learn what she has missed during her thousand years absence. Will she pass this time around? Will she fail kindergarten? How will Twilight take having Luna and her new friend Captain Shining Armor living in Ponyville with her?





	1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.  
**Author's note 1:** This fic is the brainchild of Evilhumour, and is primarily beta-read and co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr. (the original also featured aid from Foal's Errand from chapters 3-9). This version contains minor edits to the overall work in order to correct previously missed errors. We humbly ask that you read, review and enjoy.  
**Author's note 2:** Chapter post dates - 2018-01-18 (SpaceBattles Forum), 2014-05-17 (FIMFiction Dot Net), 2020-01-?? (Archive Of Our Own).

* * *

**Chapter One**

Luna looked at the ponies in her sister's private office. While she did wish she could simply just banish all tests for eternity, she knew what she must do.

"While We do not think going to _that_ education level is truly necessary, We do think there is merit in this notion." Both Cadance and Captain Shining Armor were still laughing, but Celestia was looking at her with some confusion. "Would it not be prudent to show that We art willing to follow thy laws to our little ponies?"

"Lul-" Her sister had the tendency to cough to cover up her silly nickname, wiping away a tear with a wing and moving to get into a more dignified position. "Luna, you _don't_ have to do this. A simple make-up test and _some_ time to study this time, and you'll pass."

"Nay, sister." Luna moved closer, staring up at her sister. An ear flicked, annoyed that she was this small again. It was undignified, embarrassing, and a royal pain in the Royal Neck to have to look up at such an awkward angle to be able to look her sister in the face while this close. "This is but one of many new laws that all art expected to obey. How it would be seen if We art to simply flaunt one that is in conflict with Our position on thy throne?" She shook her blue mane and smiled. "Nay dear sister. We must do this for the betterment of all our ponies!" She stood as tall as she could, wings proudly open.

"But sister, you simply _cannot_ just spend the next ten years or so in the whole education system!" Celestia protested, trying to get Luna to see reason! Luna could be _very_ stubborn at times, and she would need to nip this in the bud before it got out of hoof! 

"Um, Princess Celestia?" Fine Print, the mare trembling with fear, meekly raised her head. "Pr-Princess Luna wouldn't _need_ to do the _whole_ education process." She paused, gathering more confidence. "Maybe a week or two, and then simply do an exit equivalency exam."

"Ye-yes!" The stallion next to her smiled, standing taller. Filling out forms and paperwork, and going through the whole procedure made sense to the two bureaucrats, and thus it gave them confidence to talk to the Princesses. "I think it will take her just a few months, maybe two or three at most. Four being an extreme to which the student would need to be failing horribly to war-rent th-that…" He gulped, looking at the royally annoyed Royal Pony Sister of Equestria of the Night.

"Or," Fine Print stepped forwards, gaining more confidence and saving her partner from a one way trip to the moon. "Princess Luna could take the time to learn more about the changes and advances that have occurred in the thou-" She meeped softly, looking at the raised eyebrow of Princess Luna.

"We art not a filly, We art aware that We were absent for a thousand year period and why it was so." Her glare faltered after a moment, eyes darting to the floor. "But We do appreciate thy gentle approach in these matters." 

" _Luna_." Celestia tried to get her sister's attention, this situation rapidly spinning out of control. She simply could not leave everything because of some simple law-

"Nay, sister, but 'tis it not thee that called Us to go out and experience this new Equestria, and learn how thou," she winced, shaking her head softly. " _Our_ ponies now think in this new day? 'Tis it not thee that urged Us to leave thy chambers and make new acquaintances?" She leaned up to nuzzle her sister's neck, just reaching the base of it as her sister was so much bucking taller than her! How was _that_ fair? Although, at least _her_ flanks were still supple and slim unlike her sister's widening white flanks… "'Tis not all that which you call for and more?" She smiled deeply inside as her sister lowered her head to nuzzle her own neck, wrapping a white wing around her frame.

"Yes, little sister, but-" 

"And least Us remind thee that it is _Our_ choice, not thou's." She huffed her cheeks out, smiling as her sister rolled her eyes, showing that Luna had won this battle against her sister, that the Moon had won against the Sun.

Luna made a mental note to do the Royal Victory Dance later in private, and to make sure that her sister did not catch her this time.

"Yes, Lulu, it is." Celestia frowned, scrunching her nose as she no doubt smelt the wine and mead still on Luna's breath and body, prompting the younger mare to wrinkle her own nose in response. Captain Shining Armor had truly proven his worth as a drinking companion last night by not only getting her truly drunk last night but had also presented a fine abode to both sleep and wash off in the morning, despite Cadance using some choice words that were far too loud. She made another mental note to make his position as her preferred alcohol companion official, but only if Cadance had not already claimed him for that spot for herself, which she thought might be the case if any of his stories of the young alicorn were true. 

Celestia let her go, and turned her attention to the two bureaucrats. "I trust that you two can make all the necessary arrangements to have my sister enrolled in Canterlot's magical ki-?"

"Dear sister, two matters that We need to address." Luna frowned, flapping her wings in an angry manner. "First, _We_ shall choose where We shall receive Our education and secondly, Weartnotgoingtomagicalkindergarten!" She glared at her sister, who was giving her the most pathetic look possible.

"But _Lulu_ …" she whined, and thus Luna knew she'd lost to this face. The Sun triumphed over the Moon and it was sending her back to kindergarten with its mighty and - how did Captain Shining Armor call it? Oh yes - _cheap_ blow.

"We shall not dismiss the notion _entirely_ …" Luna said with a pout, looking to the side, hoping to retain some dignity after all this was done with.

That idea was put into serious doubt when her sister squealed and scooped her up into her forelimbs, holding Luna close to her chest as the elder alicorn rocked back and forth with unrestrained joy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.  
**Author's note 1:** This fic is the brainchild of Evilhumour, and is primarily beta-read and co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr. (the original also featured aid from Foal's Errand from chapters 3-9). This version contains minor edits to the overall work in order to correct previously missed errors. We humbly ask that you read, review and enjoy.  
**Author's note 2:** Chapter post dates - 2018-01-18 (SpaceBattles Forum), 2014-05-17 (FIMFiction Dot Net), 2020-01-01 (Archive Of Our Own).

* * *

**Chapter Two**

After escaping her sister's forelimbs and wings, Luna sat on the carpeted floor for a moment before taking control of things, lest her sister and her niece get too enthralled with the idea of her in _kindergarten_.

"Dear sister, We think it would be prudent to make this action known to our courts." She spoke a bit too quickly, but it was needed. "We do not wish to alarm our ponies if We art to suddenly appear in a school."

"Correct Luna," Celestia nodded her head. "Where do you wish to go for ma-"

" _That_ will be done discreetly and without any royal fanfare!" Curses!, she'd _agreed_ to it! Now there was no way out of Celestia's plots, surely numbering in the thousands by now, to see her in there. Huffing and rolling her eyes, she spoke the place that she wished to go for her first educational step. After all, she did owe a boon to that place and the ponies that lived there, and it would be abandoning her royal duty if she were not to acknowledge all they had done for her.

"I see." Her sister began to make the notes and papers to put everything in order. "Captain Shining Armor, as you have proved that you were able to keep my sister safe last night in her inebriated state, to which I know how she can act under the influence very well..." 

Both the groaning Captain and alicorn of the night blushed at being reminded of the more impulsive deeds of their late night adventure across the bars of the capital, something worthy to be recorded in songs, away from the ears of young foals of course. 

Ignoring the groans, Celestia continued. "I feel it would be prudent to have you as her personal guard as she has not reformed the Lunar Guards yet." Luna looked to the floor, rubbing a hoof in small circles in embarrassment at the reminder.

"I would need to appoint somepony in my place for this assignment, but I will do so to the best of my abilities to watch over Princess Luna." Shining Armor smirked a bit, enjoying the idea of bossing around a Princess slightly too much for Luna's taste.

"Good." Princess Celestia looked at her sister, who was frowning at this, not liking the idea of having somepony watching over her who would be more than willing to send the elder princess _all_ the embarrassing stories and events that were surely to transpire knowing _her_ luck. She would hate this even more, but… "As such, you will be the de facto guardian of Princess Luna." She saw her sister's eyes go wide at this, which made her _so_ adorable that it was taking all of Celestia's resolve not to scoop her up again and squeeze her tightly. "Whatever he says goes dear sister. Within reason, of course." Her little sister's lips were moving, not sounding anything. For anypony, even those that were expert lip-readers, it would be impossible to tell what she was saying, unless they were Celestia. The eldest princess knew _exactly_ what her sister was mouthing and those were impressive swears.

With dagger-like eyes, her younger sister nodded her head in agreement. Excellent! Now she just needed to get Shining Armor to send her the stories, a bit worried that Luna had tainted him by becoming his latest drinking buddy and afraid that he would refuse to betray Lulu like that to her, even _if_ it was a royal order from her.

"Good then, let us go prepare for this little event." Celestia smiled as she finished the papers for the media. "I trust you two need some time to set the paperwork up?"

The two bureaucrats nodded, already pulling out several papers that they were looking over with such speed and steady focus that made Celestia wonder if they were truly ponies or something _else_ …

"And I do know that two ponies need to go wash up and make sure that they are properly decent for this little media circus?" She looked at her niece who gave a loud snort, a reminder of how the young alicorn had brought the two drunks to Celestia's private room, dragging them by the scruff of their necks and the half empty cask of rum still in Luna's arms, after trying to deal with them for a few hours. 

"And Cadance, a Princess does not snort like that in front of anypony." She heard her meep and watched her blush at being caught like that.

She just chuckled, shaking her head with joy. Oh this would be so much fun and it had only _just_ begun!

* * *

It was a rare event that a Princess had _ever_ made a Royal Proclamation, the most recent one being that Princess Luna had been returned to them, cleansed of Nightmare Moon, and that she was to be reinstated as co-ruler of Equestria. Nearly all of the news stations had sent out reporters to try and get the _true_ story, but Princess Celestia had also had to deal with several dozen nobleponies questioning her about the whole matter, which meant the reporters didn't get to ask many questions to either her or the small blue alicorn who wore a large necklace and was trying to hide-but-at-the-same-time-not-hide behind Princess Celestia's flanks before Celestia called the whole thing to a close.

Now that _another_ Royal Proclamation was to be given out, and by Princess _Luna_ of all mares, they knew they _had_ to beat the nobleponies to the palace in order to get the good seats.

It did Luna good to see how her ponies were angling to get a good spot, several newsponies fighting and arguing with nobleponies about their right to sit where they wanted to, while a pony that she knew was Blueblood was arguing about his royal right to sit right in front of her with a mare yelling and pointing a hoof right at him. She was tempted to give Blueblood a Royal Order to go to the back of the room and be quiet, but she couldn't because she didn't want to deal with a Royal Incident after annoying one of Equestria's more influential ponies when she was about to do this journey, nor did she want to leave Celestia with a whining nitwit trying to boggle her down with loads of paperwork that the other nobles would gladly aid him in supplying in the hopes of gaining some more power in the government. Although their new bureaucrat friends might be able to help her sister out… 

That and she didn't have any real legal authority anymore, not until she passed that damnable test. Then again, it might just be worth it to order him to shut up and sit in the back row as his stupid cologne and voice were really making her headache worse.

Looking at her sister, she turned her attention to the strange device that Celestia had told her would help broadcast her voice so all ponies could hear her, although she would need to speak a bit louder so it would pick up her voice.

 ** _"GREETING-GAH!"_** Everypony leaped backwards, holding their hooves over their ears from that piercing, amplified shout of the Royal Canterlot Voice attacking them from the hidden speakers in the courtroom. It was at that moment that several ponies made a promise to themselves to NEVER ever let Luna near a microphone ever again.

Biting her lip, Luna forced herself to remain calm and not hide in some hole or under her bed. She was the Princess of Equestria! She could do this!

"Gr-greetings, my little ponies." Her wings fluttered as her voiced cracked, another blasted sign of her weakness! "Thou art no doubt curious to why We have summoned thee." She paused, taking a deep breath inwards to steady herself. "As thou art aware, We were absent for a thousand years for well known reasons." She paused, the weight of what she had done as Nightmare Moon was painful on her shoulders, but she would not let it crush her resolve. "Despite that, We have not lost Our rightful place besides Our dear sister, due in part to her endless kindness and generosity to never cut Our ties from thy seat of power in all those years alone." She smiled at her sister, truer words never spoken. Luna could have easily come back, purified of Nightmare Moon but only to find that Celestia had done the necessary paperwork to make her place as ruler of Equestria null and void, easily leaving Luna with little room to move or do anything. She could have easily become a poor mare on the street- No, Celestia could _never_ be that cruel! "Yet, yesterday two ponies," She gestured to the two bureaucrats next to her, the stallion was close to fainting if it was not for the mare holding him up. "Brought a law to my sister's attention." She eyed her crowd, the newsponies quickly writing done all that she said and the nobles trying to figure out what was going on. "It was one concerning the base legal requirements that a pony must endure to be considered worthy to have a seat of power." She looked at her sister, who gave her a nod of confidence. "Despite this being my birthright and duties, along with mine sister, to rule over our little ponies, I chose to submit myself to this examination." Here came the hard part. Luna reached inwards for strength. "We did not pass the exam." That caused a few gasps from the crowd, and a few giggles were heard. "We were given council that We should simply ignore this exam, or take another one in the near future." She stared at the crowd, willing them quiet with her appearance. It was mitigated by the fact she was only slightly taller than the average pony and looked like the filly she was once. "We chose not to do either of these options. We were informed that the… _proper_ recourse of action We were to take was to repeat the education year. However, due to the fact that the education system was created _after_ Our banishment, We have no formal place, thus it was Our decision to enroll, experience and learn about Our new world through the same process thou all experienced and prove Our worth in time to all gathered here today soon!" 

Luna looked at the stunned court of reporters and nobleponies, some still stunned by her decree but a few moving around on their hooves to really begin processing what it had meant for everypony that she was willing to do this. She had the authority of her position by her sister's side, but doing this would prove that she had the same _right_ to be there by _their_ standards. They would hold her higher since she _had_ said it was all done willingly! And to learn more about the nature of her world was truly wonderful after all, what was there _not_ to admire-

"P-princess Luna, a question from Equestria Daily!" A gentlecolt raised a hoof, holding a piece of parchment and a quill in his magic aura. She could have strained her eyes to look over to see what his cutie mark was, but that damnable hangover told her it was a poor choice.

"Ask my dear little pony." She smiled, _still_ a bit uneasy smiling all the time instead of simply ordering and looking at the pony, but she would change for them and her dear sister, who was standing proudly by her side as she embarked on this journey of learning, discovery and self-growth, nearly all on her alone and done by her own terms! Celestia was still beaming with pride at her, with her _niece_ –still a concept she was not completely used to yet, she would need the full story later- standing next to the Royal Captain of the Guards who was fighting off the remains of his hangover, but eager to join her new friend. A friend already, when it took eons before to even get one pony as to regard her as an acquaintance! This was going wonderful-

"Does this mean you will be attending magical kindergarten, flight kindergarten, normal kindergarten, or all three?"

Luna's Royal Face fell as she heard her sister, niece, and soon to be nephew-in law all _snrk_ loudly. 

There was one only _response_ she could say to this, yet she dare not speak it in fear of causing a Royal Incident.

_Oh buck me._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.  
**Author's note 1:** This fic is the brainchild of Evilhumour, and is primarily beta-read and co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr. (the original also featured aid from Foal's Errand from chapters 3-9). This version contains minor edits to the overall work in order to correct previously missed errors. We humbly ask that you read, review and enjoy.  
**Author's note 2:** Chapter post dates - 2018-01-18 (SpaceBattles Forum), 2014-05-17 (FIMFiction Dot Net), 2020-01-01 (Archive Of Our Own).

* * *

**Chapter Three**

"Th-that will be dealt with later." Luna forced herself to remain calm and steady. "We shall be departing to someplace _outside_ of our fair city, as to widen both Our knowledge and understanding of Our little ponies. The location shall remain a secret for the time being." It would more than likely not remain a secret for long where she was going, but they did need to give those ponies all the time they could get to prepare for the endless stream of newsponies and nobleponies trying to catch something unflatteringly of her, or to learn some unsavoury factoid of her education process. The mental image of her face plastered on Equestria Daily, slacked jaw holding a paper with a big red zero on it with the headline saying _Princess Luna fails elementary school!_ in the biggest font imaginable ran through her head and she had to fight against shuddering visibly.

Another raised hoof from the crowd caught her eyes from amid the chuckling crowd. 

"Yes, thee over there?"

"Tales miss!" The stallion called out, "Fibbin' Tales from Canterlot Times." He smiled, holding the paper with his one wing and the pen resting on the other. "Will you be traveling alone, as there have been some reports that you are not full-" 

Celestia stepped forwards, causing Luna to shoot her a glare. This was _her_ press conference, Faust damn it! "Captain Shining Armor has been appointed to be our sister's guard during this whole…" She paused, trying to think of what to call this. " _Journey_." She winced, a poor choice of words.

"Princess Luna," Another stallion started to speak, without being called on by either Princess which should have alarmed them. He was also grinning, and that really should have tipped them off. "What do you have to say about the rumours of you and Captain Shining Armor?"

Luna frowned, raising an eyebrow. "What rumours are thou talking about?"

"That last night you spent it with the good captain in a raunchy debauchery acts of booze and sex." 

There was total silence in the room, where the sound of pens, quills and notebooks falling to the floor was heard. Celestia managed to de-bulge her eyes, and Cadance somehow managed to retain enough control to keep from strangling the quivering mess of a stallion next to her or her red-faced aunt whose mouth was hanging low to the floor. 

Taking a deep breath, Luna opened her eyes and _glared_ at the stallion who was surrounded by ten Royal Guards, all ready to throw him out. "While last night Royal Captain Shining Armor and We _did_ partake in some taverns, it was _only_ for a few simple and light drinks." She ignored the soft snort from her sister. "We would never engage in such actions with Royal Captain Shining as it would be both a breach of conduct of our positions and improper as Captain Shining Armor is currently engaged with M-"

She blinked and stopped, remembering that Shining Armor told her about his upcoming nuptials in strictest confidence, and she had _almost_ told everypony about it! What was that phrase he said, after she gave her vow of silence? 

"With who Princess Luna?!" Another voice called out, the newsponies looking like vultures at a fresh cadaver. She looked at the panicking Shining Armor and the frightened Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who had wanted to keep their plans of engagement a secret for a while longer.

"Another mare." She closed her eyes to steady herself, trying to remember that phrase! It was so funny last night and she desperately wanted to know what it was! Something about gardening tools… "We cannot say more as We gave Our word of silence on the matter." 

This caused a rush of ponies asking her and Captain Shining Armor about who the mare was and if Princess Mi Amore Cadenza had any idea who she was, and if she was jealous as she'd had so many chances to snag him, what with being the foalsitter of his baby sister. Luna was still trying to figure it out, with something about brothers?

"If there is nothing else, I believe my sister would like to prepare for her departure?" Celestia nuzzled her sister forwards with a hoof, jostling the phrase out. "Any final words-

" ** _BROS BEFORE HOES!_** " Luna shouted with a grin, " _That_ was the phras-" She blinked and looked at the stunned crowd, her eyes darting to her slack jawed wide eyed sister, Captain Shining Armor facehooving repeatedly and muttering something about jumping off a cliff, and Cadance shaking with rage at her fiancé for teaching her _that_ kind of language. " ** _Fromlastnight_**." She sat down on her rump numbly, wishing for the first time to be back on the moon in order to escape the laughter bombarding her.

 _Why Us_ , she thought to herself as she wrapped her wings around her face to try and hide from the crowd.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.  
**Author's note 1:** This fic is the brainchild of Evilhumour, and is primarily beta-read and co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr. (the original also featured aid from Foal's Errand from chapters 3-9). This version contains minor edits to the overall work in order to correct previously missed errors. We humbly ask that you read, review and enjoy.  
**Author's note 2:** Chapter post dates - 2014-06-02 (FIMFiction Dot Net), 2020-01-01 (Archive Of Our Own).

* * *

**Chapter Four**

It was a mostly pleasant, peaceful afternoon across Equestria. There was little trouble here and there, save Ponyville of course. Being the home to the Elements of Harmony, the current domain of Pinkie Pie, located next to the Everfree Forest _and_ the birthplace of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it meant that trouble was attracted to the village like a dragon was to a large gem that was only a few steps away from them. Twilight Sparkle had only been living there for a few weeks and was slowly coming to terms from all the weird stuff, but this one took the-

"CAKE!" 

Jumping, Twilight looked at her new friend, the unpredictable party pony, finishing her thought for her with a big grin on her face. "Pi-Pinkie –how did you?"

"Twilight dear, did you _see_ the news?" The rest of her new friends were walking into her library, with Rarity's eyes reading several newspapers with a grin that could easily belong to Rainbow Dash.

"Twi-light! Are you ready yet?" a very familiar voice called out to her. 

Twilight looked down at the impatient dragon and frowned. "Well no, not really I mean how can I be ready?" She levitated the letter that had arrived earlier that day to read it once more. It was just so…

_Dearest Twilight Sparkle,_

_I am not certain if you are aware yet but the bureaucracy of Equestria have uncovered a little known law which I foolishly-_

There were a number of scratched out words, showing that the princess was trying to figure out the best way to say this. 

_-passed centuries ago. It states that anypony who wishes to have an official leadership role was required to pass a simple test. My dear little sister Princess Luna was given a history exam which she spectacularly failed. Do not ask what score she received my faithful student as it would only give you a headache. Due to a follow up law and some legal technicalities, Luna is required to pass the equivalent levels of the education system from the bottom up. As it would only cause problems for her to attend classes here in Canterlot what with the paparazzi and nobles, I am sending her to Ponyville, along with my Captain of the Royal Guards, who has been assigned to stay with her so that she may attend her studies in relative security and secrecy. They will be arriving on this evening's train. If you can please give them some place to rest as the house they will be staying in still needs some final work, it would be greatly appreciated._

_Princess Celestia_

Twilight passed the note around to let her friends read it, hoofing it over to Applejack first, who read it silently with a stifled snort as she reached the _foolishly_ part, then passed it on to Fluttershy.

"I mean, we're going to have Princess Luna here and what if I do something wrong that angers her, or what if I don't have enough sheets and Igetbanishedtothemoonand-"

"Relax egghead," Rainbow Dash gave a snort, having finished the letter that Fluttershy had passed her and gave it over to Pinkie Pie to read. "I'm pretty sure any bed you get her will be awesome!"

"Ye-yes, I'm sure she will just love anything you give her… I think…" Fluttershy said meekly, looking at the floor.

"Yes darling, it will be fine as we'll be there for you." Rarity said with soft smile, placing her newspaper on the coffee table. "And I don't hear you agonizing over this Royal Captain fellow."

"Well, he's my BBBFF." She rolled her eyes, instantly calming down. "I'm not _that_ worried about Shiny." 

"BBBFF? Shiny?" Rarity's eyes seemed to grow now, with confusion matched by the other mares in the room.

"Best Big Brother Friend Forever." She blushed a bit, surprised that she hadn't told her friends about Shining yet. "Er, that's right I haven't mentioned that I have a older brother… have I?" She was met with head shakes. "Sorry about that!" She rubbed the back of her head, looking at the floor.

"It's okay dear." Rarity hugged her, smiling. "I mean look at our dear friend Dash here. I've _never_ gotten her to talk about _her_ family." 

"Hey!" The multi hued mare called out in protest at this slight, only to be rebuked by her oldest friend. 

"It _is_ true Dash," Fluttershy muttered softly, looking at the other pegasus. "I mean, you never invited me your home when we were fillies." She meeped and quickly apologized to the grumbling mare while hiding behind her mane. 

"It's _complicated_..." She groaned out, not caring to deal with this now. It would be totally uncool to get into _that_ mess.

"It's okay sugarcube," Applejack said as they began to sit down at the table, with Twilight's eyes glancing over the newspaper. "If ya don't want to talk about it, ya don't have ta." She looked at the fastest pegasus she knew who was trying not to grumble louder. "But we do wanna help ya."

With a long built up sigh, Rainbow Dash looked at her friends. She built herself up for this, ready to tell them the truth. "Well, you see-"

" ** _WHAT?!_** " Twilight shouted, startling every mare and drake in the room. "He's _seeing_ somepony and didn't tell me!?" The paper in her hooves was shredded by her magic as she began to hyperventilate, pacing around her library looking for something. 

The mares and the young drake winced at this, knowing a certain stallion was in big trouble now. 

Although one mare was happy that she didn't need to tell her friends about _that_ and gave a silent thanks to this Shining Armor.

* * *

Shining Armor sneezed as he stared at the door for the umpteenth time. Princess Celestia had warned her that this could happen, that Princess Luna would be very timid and might retreat into herself and that he was not to treat her as a Princess but as his little sister. And if it was Twilight, he would open the door instead of just trying to talk to her through it.

Still, he could not just barge into the bathroom, and Luna _was_ still holding the doorknob tight.

"Luna, please let me in," he called out to her again, knocking on the door that already had a groove from his hoof's pounding. "It is not good for you to be hiding in there."

"We said nay!" the voice shot back, strained from trying to sound tough. Shining Armor knew enough from Twily's own panic attacks to see how terrified the alicorn was. "We art fine!"

"Yet that is why you spent yesterday and most of this morning in the bathroom?" He raised an eyebrow, smirking a bit as he heard her snort, showing he was making some progress with her.

It was an ingenious plan on Princess Celestia's part, to send them off on a train that was going to every city straight from that horrid press meeting that had sent the princess hiding in the bathroom with a fresh apple red blush on her face. At every station, a pair of ponies under intricate illusions would be sent out to confuse the newsponies that were trying to follow the pair. With each station, there were less and less ponies waiting for them, believing them to be another fake group and genuinely losing interest. It made Shining Armor smile when he heard the soft muttering from Princess Luna that she would be able to do this in relative privacy. He rubbed his hind leg unconsciously, his rear still feeling sore from leaning against the door the entire day.

"We have Our reasons."

He gave a loud snort to that. "Luna, I was given orders to make sure you are safe during this trip. That means making sure you are okay." He paused, breathing inwards. "I _do_ have a little sister as you know."

"Yes, the Element of Magic. We art well aware of _her_ existence." Her voice dropped a bit.

"Well, as _her_ big brother, I know when she is not well. I can tell when she _desperately_ needs to talk to somepony." He gave the knob a tug, but her magic hold was still tight. "If it was about that little _outburst_ ," he give a soft chortle, but quickly quelled it. "You really shouldn't-"

"It's not that." She was almost whispering now.

"Then what?" He could easily see her as Twilight now, after a horrid day at school of being all alone, the few times that being without anypony as her friend _really_ got to her. "Please, tell me. I want to help you."

"Why?" Her voice told him she was close to crying. He wanted to hold his siste- _er_ , help his charge out. It was tearing at his heart to hear her like this. 

"Luna, you're my friend and I hate-"

"Y-you're still Our friend?" It was a pathetic whimper, and he could feel her magic drop but he didn't dare open the door.

"Yes, of course!" He wanted to laugh, why would he suddenly _not_ be her friend anymore, it didn't make any sense. He had to know to help her out. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Be-because We broke our oath to thee." She was sniffling now, only a few steps away from all out crying.

"What oath?" He was barely restraining himself from barging in there, _knowing_ that he had to give Twi- _Luna_ the time and space to talk.

"Our word of silence on thou engagement with Mi Am- _Cadance_." She gave a loud sniffle that told him she was about to break. "We betrayed thine trust. We broke Our loyalty with thee, Our words becoming dishonest with thee, and- and…" She was teetering on the edge now.

Buck it. He was going in. Princess Celestia had told him to watch out for certain words; anything pertaining to her old Elements was something he _had_ to watch out for and react immediately to help her.

Opening the door, he spotted the shaking bundle of blue fur, feathers and horn sitting beside the toilet, hiding the farthest from the door as much as she could and also making herself seem as small as possible. She backed up in fear- no, in _shame_ , her eyes pointed to the floor and glistening with the tears she had shed, which were still flowing down. 

Quickly, he scooped her up in his magic and brought her close to him, rubbing her back, helping her to cry out her emotional tensions. 

_Just like Twilight_ , he thought to himself sadly.

"Luna, look, it's _okay_." He spoke softly, rocking her back and forth, trying to comfort her as best as he could, using what he knew had helped Twilight when she like was this. "It was just a slip of the tongue. I know you didn't mean anything bad by it." 

"B- but-" She gulped, trying to say something, but Shining Armor just silenced her, by making the same soothing sounds that Tia would do for her so long ago when they were young.

"All you did was make them aware I was dating somepony." He chuckled softly, rubbing her withers a little less as she began to calm down. 

"But We said engaged…" He blinked and looked down at the confused mare in his arms.

"Oh." He blushed, realizing what she had meant by engaged, then started to laugh. "Luna, everypony, your sister included, believed you meant I was only seeing somepony, not actually engaged _engaged_!" He laughed a bit more, gently letting her go slowly. "And besides, what sort of friend would I be if I hated you for something as silly as that?" He smiled at the alicorn who moved around to face him, her tears now gone as she sat in front of him with her head still tilted to the floor. He reached out and lifted her head up so she could see the truth in his eyes. "I mean-" He blinked, the words dying in his mouth as he saw new tears in her eyes.

"We _hate_ this!" she screamed, slamming a hoof onto the tiled floor. 

"H- hate what?" he blinked, trying to see what was wrong now.

"This! Everything!" she sobbed now, waving a hoof and wings wide. "All this time We thought We lost a gallant friend due to a careless mistake and it was for naught! A thousand years ago and We would have known _exactly_ what meant what and what actions that could be done to fix Our _mistakes_!" She was glaring at him now, angry at him, angry at herself, angry at everything! "Now, in this new world, We know _nothing_! All of Our notions art gone! All of Our ways of acting art gone! All We ever had, save Our sister, is _gone_!" She jabbed a hoof into his barrel. "All of Our friends We ever had art-are _dead_." She whimpered, the steam suddenly gone from her. "W- _I_ am alone in this world, and it's not _fair_." She leaned against him, sobbing into his coat heavily.

"It's not fair," she whispered, her eyes set shut tight.

"I know," he whispered back, stroking her mane again, he could feel his heart breaking for her. He could almost feel the weight Luna carried; of the thousand years lost to her, everything that once made sense thrown out the window and into a world where nothing made sense, from a world she nearly destroyed because she desperately wanted _some_ form of attention to a world where she had attention from everypony, not from love but fear of what she might do. She had lost her sister as an equal a thousand years ago and came home to find a mare that was more like a mother to her now, that precious bond changed forever and nearly impossible for either to possibly regain. That bond would forever be tainted by what she had done all those years ago, and there was no way for things to be as they once were. It was a miracle that Luna had managed to keep it together for this long, her inner resolve and strength must be beyond measure. Shining Armor was in awe of her hidden might, and was humbled by the size of her broken heart. 

"I may not know everything that has happened to you, but I can guess." He nuzzled her head as a big brother to a little sister. "I agree, it's not fair at all. But I promise you one thing, Luna. You will find ponies, ponies that are like me, that will come to see you as the wonderful mare you are." He wrapped his hooves around her again, feeling her do the same. "I am honored to be your friend, Luna." He hummed softly, singing an old song that he once sang to Twilight when she was a foal.

Luna leaned into the stallion, allowing her tears to slow down before shaking her head. "N- nay, it is we that art honored to have thee as our friend." She smiled up at him, wiping away her remaining tears with a wing. "We have barely known each other outside of a short while, but already you have proven how grand your heart is and how deep it goes for another." She took a step back, shaking her head softly, grinning now. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is beyond lucky to have thee as her soon-to-be mate." Her smile grew as she went to hug him, wrapping her wings around him. "I will be honored for the day I can properly call you family Shining Armor." She laughed, truly _laughed_ for the first time since her return. She might have laughed with her sister but this was _true_ Laughter, something only the former Bearer of Laughter could know. It was a cleansing, healing Laughter that wiped away all the doubt and sadness that life might throw at them and made the next day a joyous event instead of a painful experience that a pony might be driven to see that they never see the sun rise again, or cause harm to other ponies that seem too at ease with their situation.

Or cause one mare to let her jealousy turn her into something that drove away all the joy from the only pony she ever truly loved beyond all measure.

It was always thought to be the odd Element out of the six, but few truly knew the power that Laughter had, how essential it was for Harmony to exist.

Laughter was magic.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.  
**Author's note 1:** This fic is the brainchild of Evilhumour, and is primarily beta-read and co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr. (the original also featured aid from Foal's Errand from chapters 3-9). This version contains minor edits to the overall work in order to correct previously missed errors. We humbly ask that you read, review and enjoy.  
**Author's note 2:** Chapter post dates - 2014-06-10 (FIMFiction Dot Net), 2020-01-01 (Archive Of Our Own).

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Shining Armor smiled at the other pony in front of him, wiping her runny nose with a hoof, still laughing with him. On one hoof, there was a part of him, a small part, screaming that he was going to be banished forever to the moon for doing this to her, but that was a dying part he was forcing down. He remembered what Princess Celestia had told him and what his special orders were for Luna.

* * *

_"Please come in Captain." Princess Celestia sat down at her desk in her office, glaring at him. Shining Armor felt less like a Captain of the Royal Guards getting a strong reprimand for corrupting the freshly returned Princess and more like a colt that was facing his mom for teaching his little sister to swear, but only for her to say it in front of their grandparents at the worst possible moment. It was beyond_ terrifying _, yet he knew that Cadance would be even worse and_ that _made his legs weak. "I do believe we should go over some ground rules about how you are to treat my sister."_

_"P-p-princess Celestia, I swear that I didn't mean to teach her-"_

_"Don't worry about that too much." She gave an annoyed snort. "It was expected that Lulu would be so curious about the new way of saying things and it's in her character to not offend her friends by getting how they say things wrong." She gave another snort, looking out the window, leaning onto the desk. "I should have seen it coming, with Lulu trying to figure out the phrase." She gave him a soft, amused look. "Lulu always scrunches her face a bit and bites the tip of her tongue just slightly to the left when she is trying to think of something important." She sighed sadly. "And she always hides behind her wings when she gets truly embarrassed until I can coax her out of it." She leaned her head down, clearly getting more depressed._

_Princess Celestia had stayed at the press meeting to get things cleared up and try to get as few as possible ponies to publish what she'd said while Luna had turned into smoke and flew towards her bedroom to hide. Cadance had stayed to make sure the nobles would keep as quiet as possible, leaning on Fancy Pants to manipulate Blueblood into thinking it would be a great idea if the nobles would be quiet about the whole matter, and that Princess Luna would be very grateful to_ him _; consequently, the annoying lug had gotten almost all the noble to swear their silence on it. Shining Armor had gone to his men to make sure that they would keep their mouths shut before being summoned to Princess Celestia's study with Cadance going to talk to Luna out of her bathroom._

"Shining Armor _." He looked up at her Princess in a bit of a shock, looking at how_ devastated _she appeared to be. "She views you as a friend. I cannot stress how_ important _that is to her and to me. I know you can, and will, do all that you can to make sure she is safe during this whole stupid mess." She shook her head, clearly still in the belief that this was a waste of Luna's time. "You know that I don't believe that she needs to go school to learn about our nation. But, I think that time away from all_ this _would be good for her." She raised a hoof, gesturing to something out the window._

_"This?" He blinked, trying to see what she was talking about._

" **This**!" _She pointed at the city, gliding over to him quietly and quickly. "All of this, all of the backstabbing, all the plotting, all the harsh judgement from the nobleponies, all of them that have such a massive stick up their plots that they won't give her a_ real _chance." She gave an annoyed snort, wrapping a wing around him, her voice starting to crack. "I've heard rumours from when I sneak around my servants that some think that Lulu is only biding her time to try and take over again, that she is really Nightmare Moon regrouping her strength to kill me, all those hurtful things that would just_ crush _her." She leaned her head next to his, nuzzling him slightly. If it weren't for the fact that he was engaged to one alicorn and had spent last night drinking with another, he would have been rendered a mess from getting nuzzled from Princess Celestia. As it were, he was just intrigued that Princess Celestia had been sneaking out and was already making a mental note to have his guards watch out for an alicorn with a sun on her flanks being sneaky. "But, I think, she needs time away from_ me _most of all."_

_"Princess?" He looked at her confused…_

_"I'm no fool. A lot of what happened to Luna was much as my fault as it was hers." She sighed sadly. "She craved for attention,_ any _sort of attention. Just be to_ acknowledged _by somepony. That's all she ever wanted." She turned her head downwards in shame. "I cast a very large shadow that many ponies have pushed Luna into, to the point she thought I had placed her there myself so that I could have all the praise from everypony all for myself."_

_"But that's not true!" He blinked, and looked at her wince slightly. "It's not, is it?"_

_"I-I don't know anymore." She gave a small whimper, a millennium of guilt starting to show at long last. "I-I think that there may have been some part of me that_ **enjoyed** _all the praises, that let me think that my little sister was just being silly and there was nothing to worry about, that the problem would resolve itself." The tears that fell were the ones from eons of hidden shame, guilt and fear that she was to blame for what happened to her sister . "If I truly was the good sister that I thought I was, I would have seen the warning signs and none of this would have happened. I failed her so_ horribly _, and I don't even know how to begin to fix it." She paused and whispered. "I don't even know if it_ can _be fixed."_

_She turned her head to Shining Armor, tears running down her face._

_"This trip," She paused, taking a breath of air before looking back down at the floor. "I think it will help her to grow, to stand on her own hooves and show to everypony who_ she _is without_ me _standing above her. She needs ponies like_ you _, to help her to become her own mare. Not just Celestia's little sister, not the younger Royal Pony Sister, but simply as Princess Luna, as Luna, as_ herself _." She chuckled, wiping a tear away. "I think she would faint with joy or squee loudly if somepony would call me_ her sister _."_

_Shining Armor smiled, shaking his head._

_"So_ that's _what that you want me to do Princess?" He looked at her, feeling a connection; from one older sibling to another._

_"Yes. Help her grow, make sure she tries to make friends, don't let her hide away in her room. Don't let her shut herself off from everypony. Be the friend that I failed to be for her." She leaned down, looking at him in the eyes with hope in her pink eyes. "Please, help my little sister become the strong, beautiful, wonderful mare I know she can be again."_

_"Of course, Princess, of course." He nuzzled her before he realized what he was doing, and he pulled back, blushing. "S-sorry Pr-"_

_"It's alright," she laughed softly, pulling him into a hug with her wings. "You have done much for my family already; giving my niece so much joy and being the first real friend my sister has had in a very long time." She smiled, nuzzling his head. "Are you sure I can't persuade you two to move your wedding up so I can call it_ our _family sooner?"_

_He laughed, shaking his head. "I'll see what can be done Princess, but you need to talk to Cadance about that. I'm still kinda in trouble for bringing my bar friend home last night."_

_She laughed at that, pulling her nephew - er, soon to be nephew-in-law - into a tight hug._

* * *

"Feeling better?" He smiled, taking a step back so Luna could get up.

Nodding her head, she gave a very un-princess like snort and slowly got onto her hooves, fluttering her wings a bit. "Ye-yes We art." She gave him a warm smile, shaking her mane. "We thank thee for-"

"Pri- _Luna_ ," He fought the urge to roll his eyes as she slowly walked towards the sink to wash her face. She gave a bit of a jerk, seeing how bad she looked right now. Her face was all matted, her eyes were a bit puffy and there was a bit of snot still on her muzzle. "You don't need to use _We, art, thou_ ," He waved a hoof, trying to think of more words. "It's a bit… um, _outdated_ and…" He blushed, trying to think how to really approach the topic and how bad he was doing it. 

"But We art accustomed to speaking in thy manner…" She sighed as the latest splash of water didn't get rid of her horrid appearance and the fact that she had invented spells exactly for this was still absent from her mind. Not many knew, but Luna was the mother of spells designed for fixing one's appearance after a hard night of drinking. If Celestia knew how many times Luna was hiding just how drunk she was behind her magic, she was sure her big sister would introduce her to mister soap again.

"I can see that, but if you are willing to try, I'm pretty sure that you'll get used to speaking normal like." He smirked a bit as the alicorn was wiping her face for the third time but still had that stubborn snot in her coat. She was grumbling loudly about it before she blinked and looked up at her horn. She then facehoofed and sighed heavily.

"We art dumb." Her magic went to pull out the mucus but was blocked by another magic aura. Blinking, she turned her head to Shining Armor who had a look on his face that she knew well. It was the same look that Celestia had when she was trying to teach her something.

"I am dumb."

"Yae, as thou art blocking Thine magic." She frowned at him, getting a bit annoyed.

"No," He drawled it out the word. "Say it with me, 'I am dumb, yes as you are blocking my magic.'" He glared back at her, not budging an inch. "You must know that I am _very_ good at shield magic and blocking stuff with my magic and I'm not letting you go on this one."

She glared at him; it took all her princess pride not to kick him between his hind legs as her amplified earth pony strength would ruin any chance of grandnephews and nieces. And it wouldn't be that nice to kick her friend there.

She huffed out her cheeks, rolling her eyes slightly and took a breath of air. " _Fine._ 'I am dumb, yes as you art- **are** blocking my magic.'" She glared at him, annoyed at how smug he looked.

"Good." He let go of the block he'd placed on her magic, and moved towards the door. "I'll order us some lunch, okay?"

"Actually, We- _I_ feel like it would be better to rest our, I mean, my eyes." She bit her lips, trying her hardest not to yawn, feeling drained after sharing _that_ with Captain Shining Armor and being up when she was usually asleep. She was nocturnal after all and being up so long was _not_ fun. Nor was sleeping on the bathroom floor.

"Actually…" He blushed, tapping his hooves together. "I've got orders from Princess Celestia to, in her own words, 'Make sure Lulu gets used to a day schedule and please try to make sure it happens before her first class. The last thing Lulu needs is to get detention for falling asleep in class.'" He blushed and stepped away from the muttering alicorn, whose horn was glowing as her wings flapped angrily.

Sighing heavily, she used her magic to make sure she was presentable, no signs of her crying or dribbling mucus on her coat. "Very well. Lead on." She was proud that she was able to withhold her yawn, so much that she didn't notice that she was rubbing her eyes.

Shining Armor just smiled and shook his head at her, something he would do many times that day, including when she struggled to keep her eyes open as she shoveled a fork of her cold pasta into her mouth, and making sure to give her a light flick behind her ear whenever she started to doze off, which earned him a deadly glare. After their late lunch, Luna retreated into a corner seat to 'rest' her eyes, but Shining Armor decided it was time for a simple lecture lesson, making sure to go over as many words as they could, helping her transfer her diction to the modern age.

It was late in the day when Luna raised a hoof to stop them. Shining Armor had been a thorough teacher and Luna for the most part was an eager and patient student, if not being completely exhausted, causing her to stumble more often than either would normally expect of her.

"Shining Armor, one qu- question." She was yawning more often now, dropping that pretense a few hours ago. Her eyes were drooping more and more, and he was finding it harder to keep her awake and not let her just sleep. "Af- _yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw,_ " she shook her body, her wings fluttering as she bit her lips to keep herself awake. "Excuse me. Was not very Princess-like." She chuckled softly at him, rubbing her eyes again. "As I was saying, after-"

"After _that_ , you're going to bed," he said sternly, making sure she knew he was serious. "Don't argue about how going on for more lessons or-"

"Captain Shining Armor, please allow Us- _me!_ to finish." She flashed him an annoyed look. "W- _I_ am more than willingly to rest my head."

"Oh." He blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "Wh-what do you want to know?"

She looked at him, with the biggest eyes that a mare her size could muster. She was far too tired to keep her voice regal, so she was speaking in a more normal tone for a mare of her physical age that was very tired, although maybe a few years younger than what would be expected. Her tone was more befitting that of a very bored filly as she asked him one of the Golden Questions; the ones that have no answer, ones that have driven ponies to madness, ones that countless fillies have dared to ask their elders in hopes of learning what could never be truly known.

"Are we there yet?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.  
**Author's note 1:** This fic is the brainchild of Evilhumour, and is primarily beta-read and co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr. (the original also featured aid from Foal's Errand from chapters 3-9). This version contains minor edits to the overall work in order to correct previously missed errors. We humbly ask that you read, review and enjoy.  
**Author's note 2:** Chapter post dates - 2014-06-10 (FIMFiction Dot Net), 2020-01-01 (Archive Of Our Own).

* * *

**Chapter Six**

It was nearly midnight at the small train station, where a small crowd of ponies were awaiting the late arrival of possible ponies, two of which were certain to arrive. Six of the seven mares and the drake were standing off to the side, watching as the newest unicorn in their town paced back and forth, looking down the train tracks, waiting for _him_ to come.

"Sugarcube, calm down, Ah'm sure that the train will be here soon enough." Applejack looked at her new friend, a bit worried at how angry she was. Sure, she would have been just as annoyed with Big Mac if he dated somepony and didn't tell her about it, but _still_ this might be a bit too much.

"Indeed, and while it would be nice, the trains hardly _ever_ arrive on time," Madame Mayor Mare spoke gently, a bit worried about how to deal with citizens of her town, wondering how they would take this news. She still had yet to call a proper town's meeting as per the Princess's - _Princess Celestia_ she corrected herself, trying to get herself used to the fact there was another princess on the throne now - request to keep things low key for as long as possible. Thank goodness it was Sunday tomorrow so she could get most of them together and get this headache dealt with. Hopefully Princess Luna would not mind the lowly house she had found for her and her guard to use _too_ much and not banish her to some dismal place.

With a sigh, the purple unicorn looked at her friends and the mayor of Ponyville. 

"I know, but _still_ girls…" she whined, looking down the track again, ears perking up as the tell-tale rumble of a train approaching was heard. Moving backwards on the platform, the ponies and dragon watched as the train pulled up to the station. They ignored the mass of sleepy ponies walking out, waiting for two certain ponies to step out.

What they got was the loudest, most grating snore from a mouth of mare that was on top of a wincing white stallion. Blinking, they stepped back as the Captain of Royal Guards carried out two large saddle bags with the Princess of the Night on his back, her face buried deep into his mane as she slumbered. Her legs, both front and back, were draped over his sides, wings slightly fluttering as it was fairly common for a pegasi's wings to twitch as they slept. 

It was the _very last_ thing they'd ever expected from a Princess, and they were stunned for a few moments, which left the stallion blushing as the alicorn began to chew on his mane again. He wasn't sure if he missed the snoring or not, considering how strong her jaw was. Then again, she sounded like a whole _company_ of lumberjacks when she snored.

It took most of the mares' strength not to giggle at the scene, a lot of their fear and dread seeping away as the blue alicorn began to snore. There was one exception, and she was frowning as she stalked over to the Captain of the Royal Guards.

"Hiya, Twily." He smiled softly and almost knelt down to nuzzle her, but remembered that he had a very special pony on his back. "How's my L.S.B.F.F.?" He blinked as she _glared_ at him, pointing a hoof right in his face.

"You're _so_ lucky that you've got the Princess on your back right now or I'd be kicking your hide for not telling me you have a marefriend!" she snarled at him, looking up at Princess Luna. "Wait, why is she on your back Shiny?" She blinked, looking at her friends who were holding back a poor laugh - wait, where was Pinkie Pie?

"I think, darling, that she is sleeping." Rarity gazed at the gorgeous stallion, a bit miffed that this hunk was already claimed. "I'm certain that introductions are not needed, are they Captain Shining Armor?"

Twilight seemed to blush while her brother grinned at this as the train started to pull away.

"Well, from what Princess Celestia told me, yes I know who you are, but I would love to hear who you are all from Twily." He rubbed against her, causing the unicorn to glare at him.

"You mean you didn't tell him about us egghead?" Rainbow Dash shouted, causing nearly everypony to jump. Princess Luna muttered softly before going back to snoring her head off. "I mean-"

"Okay, okay!" Twilight snapped back, blushing horribly. "I messed up a bit." She rubbed her foreleg, a bit ashamed that she hadn't told her family about her friends yet or vice versa. She made a mental note to send a letter to her parents first thing in the morning, telling them where she was and about her new friends! "Shiny, these are my friends Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy." Each of her friends reached out to shake his hoof, with Rainbow giving a hoof bump to him. "This is Madam Mayor Mare." She let the mayor give her greetings; a simple nod of the head between two official figures. "And of course you know Spike."

"Hey B.L.D.B.F.F!" Shining Armor smiled at the drake, wrapping him into a hug.

"Hey B.B.P.B.F.F.!" Spike said, leaning into the hug, very happy despite this close uncool contact.

"BLDBFF?" Dash looked at Twilight, who rolled her eyes at the boys' idiocy.

"Best Little Dragon Brother Friend Forever and Best Big Pony Brother Friend Forever," she muttered, annoyed at the dorkish greetings those two had.

"I don't know where Pinkie Pie went, though, she was just here…" She turned her head back to her brother, who used his magic to place the alicorn into a more centered place on his back as she started to slip to the side.

"I'm sure she had a good reason Twily." He smiled, relieved to see that his little sister already had so many new friends and was so quickly aware that one of them was missing. This was a huge sign of growth for his sister in such a short time. "Although, I do think it would be nice to get some sleep." He turned his head to gesture to the mare on his back, snoring loudly again. "And getting her a proper bed would be a good idea."

This caused a short amount of giggles, even one that escaped the lips of the mayor despite her.

* * *

It was a nice, pleasant, walk towards the center of Ponyville, with Princess Luna snoring the whole way. They mostly talked about Twilight when she was young, her friends asking to hear embarrassing stories which caused the mare in question to blush and glare at her friends and older brother respectively.

The topic shifted to the growing infamous tale of Princess Luna and Shining Armor binge drinking, which Dash was more than eager to learn about and to ask which bar had the best booze, Applejack was pleased to hear that _her_ farm's cider was one which both ponies had loved to the point that Luna had taken the cask of cider with her, and Twilight was aghast to hear her brother had taken the Princess to so _many_ bars!

As they drew closer to the library, they heard a spatter of lips, and one drawn out yawn. Stopping in their tracks, they all turned their attention to the mare who was beginning to rouse.

Lifting the alicorn as gently as he could, Shining Armor placed Luna onto the ground as she started waking up, making sure that she was standing on her four hooves before letting go of her.

"Nice nap Luna?" he asked in a mild joking manner, ignoring the gasps from the mares around him. Probably not expecting somepony to be so informal with a Princess. Twilight slapped him in the chest.

"YoucannottalktoPrincessLunalikethat!" she whisper-shouted at him, furious he would do this to her. Didn't he have _any_ respect for the Princess?

"Miss Twilight Sparkle, be rest assured it is most fine with Us- I mean, me." Luna smiled, shaking off her tiredness. She turned her head to Shining Armor and smiled a bit broader. "Yes it was." She blushed a bit, her forehooves rubbing against each other. "And thank thee- _you_ -, for carrying u- me." She yawned again, blinking as she tried to wake herself up more.

"It wasn't a problem, Luna," Shining smiled proudly, stealing a glance at the looks of surprise the mares were giving him, minus the bored dragon who simply rolled his eyes. "And good job on your language." He nodded his head, giving the same tone of approval he gave to recruits who did well with a training drill.

"But I still stumbled…" she muttered, taking a step backwards. Her wings were starting to flutter as she started to look to the sides.

"Yes, but you corrected yourself, and you _are_ tired, so that shows me how much you took those lessons to heart." He smiled warmly at her, which caused her to straighten herself upright and nod her head in agreement.

"If you say so." She turned her head to the other mares and the lone drake, giving them warm greetings to which they returned. She gave a short chuckle when Rarity called her Princess.

"As you no doubt heard, my dear little pony," she turned her head to the side slightly, looking at the white unicorn who was just barely smaller than her. "My princess title is temporarily out of my reach." She gave another chuckle, feeling herself beginning to relax. "But thank you nonetheless. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to hear that." Her laughter died off, looking off to the side sadly, wondering if these ponies _knew_ why Celestia and her had chosen the title of Princess, and why it disgusted her to see a pony like Blueblood having such a title when he had been through none of the events like _they_ had been through. Cadance she could understand, being an alicorn must have meant that she had done _something_ beyond measure to earn her horn, but she had doubts either of those youngsters knew what it meant to be a _Prince_ or _Princess_ of Equestria. 

Or Celestia had lowered the level of acceptance in her absence like she had done for so many other things, like the status of the standing army. Besides Shining Armor and a few other ponies, it was almost deplorable how soft they had become! 

"Luna?" Blinking, Luna shook her head as she saw the others were staring at her confused. "Are ya okay sugarcube?" Applejack blinked and shook her head, blushing at something. "Ah mean, your highness!"

"It is alright Applejack." She smiled, her own blush growing on her coat. "I was lost in thought over something that Rarity said." Stepping closer to the apple farmer, she found herself smiling a bit wider to comfort the scared earth pony, which was working. _Tia was right about smiling doing more than the old ways_ , Luna thought to herself, _and that is becoming more natural to do so._ "And you need not worry about proper titles like your highness." Her head dropped a bit, her coat nearly violet now. "And it was nice to be called that endearing title."

That got her a round of light, caring chuckles from the ponies and dragon around her. It was not mean spirited, hurtful, or condescending at all. It felt like laughter from a group of friends, laughing at one of their friend's little idiosyncrasies. It was like that _exactly!_

Letting out another yawn, she turned her attention to Twilight Sparkle. "If you may, I would like to sleep in a proper bed." Turning her head back to the mayor of Ponyville, she put on a more politically correct face from one official to another. "I do apologize for not being able to properly converse with you-"

"It is alright, Princess." She smiled softly, shaking her head. There was no real fear of the former Mare in the Moon, not anymore when she saw the mare like _this_. She was a young mare, maybe even a teen, by the looks of it, that was almost dead on her hooves but was trying her hardest to stay awake. She was not the terror that her parents had once told her about when she was a little filly that was misbehaving, the fearsome monster of Nightmare Night or the pony that had attacked her town a few weeks ago. "I see that you need your rest, and trust me, no pony is _that_ good at talking business without some beauty sleep first."

"Twas the same in our younger days," Luna shook her head fondly, remembering how Tia would need a good, solid prod to her side to keep her awake when she tried to tend _her_ Night Court for dignitaries that wanted to talk about some border conflicts. "Thank you very much." She nodded her head, turning her attention back to the door of the library, to which Twilight had long opened. The mare was kind enough to let her go in first, which Luna gladly took.

She stepped into the pitch black room, her night vision starting to kick in when _it_ happened.

"SUUUUURPRIS-"

" _GAAAAAAAA_!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.  
**Author's note 1:** This fic is the brainchild of Evilhumour, and is primarily beta-read and co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr. (the original also featured aid from Foal's Errand from chapters 3-9). This version contains minor edits to the overall work in order to correct previously missed errors. We humbly ask that you read, review and enjoy.  
**Author's note 2:** Chapter post dates - 2014-06-10 (FIMFiction Dot Net), 2020-01-01 (Archive Of Our Own).

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

It had happened in an instant. The lights flicked on, the large banner unfurled, party streamers fell down, and ponies jumped out of the hidden sides of the library with Pinkie Pie holding a large cake that were all pushed back as Shining Armor leaped into the room with a wide shield expanding outwards and a smaller one covering Luna, whom he had pushed behind his body.

There was a shout of surprise and pain as everypony was thrown backwards into the walls, with one pony laughing at having a cake smashed into her face.

"Shining Armor, what do you think you're doing?!" Twilight moved to slap her brother again, but was pushed back by a strong hoof.

"My job." He glared at the ponies in his magical grasp, frowning as the scene had changed when he blinked. Somepony was gone…

"But Shin-"

"Not NOW Twilight!" he snapped, sending a magical aura to push her back, trying to find the missing pony.

"Well, he's kinda right Twilight." A voice giggled from above his head, a pink face was looking down at him. He nearly lost his magical grip, but thanks to his training he was able to keep his focus and concentration. "I mean, I don't think-"

Shining Armor grabbed the mare off of his head and threw her onto the ground with a hoof pressed down on her barrel to pin her down.

"Who are you and what is the meaning of this!" he shouted, his full attention was on this mare now. Somehow, she had slipped out of his magic grasp and snuck up on him without him noticing at all.

He labelled her as an _extremely dangerous pony_ and one whom he needed to watch out for.

"I'm Pinkie Pie, and this _was_ you guys' surprise welcome party!" She laughed, somehow she had squirmed out from under his hoof and was now standing next to him. If the situation hadn't been so serious, he would have asked her to train his soldiers to escape like that in a heartbeat!

" _See!_ " Twilight snapped at him, glaring as if _he_ had done something wrong. "There was nothing to worry about!"

"Horsefeathers Twilight!" He was amazed at how dense his little sister was being. "I don't know or care if you trust these ponies, but _I_ don't know them at _all_ and thus I can't _trust_ them!" He glared at Twilight, who was gasping at him, ready to hit him with her magic. "It's my _job_ to protect Princess Luna, and having a full house of unknown ponies is _not_ acceptable at all!" He turned his attention back to the ponies whom he was holding against the wall, and moved them to the side. He moved Luna behind him as he walked in a tight circle, to keep his eye on the crowd as he moved them towards the door. Looking at the bouncing earth pony that he _knew_ he could trust due to the fact she was an Element, he bit back a sigh and said, "Miss Pie, next time you wish to have such a party for the Princess, I will need a full list of those attending in advance so I can conduct a proper interview of the pony in question."

"Okie dokie lokie." She smiled, nodding her head as she walked ahead of the floating mass of ponies who were ejected from the library. With a thud, the door was closed, leaving the eight ponies and one young dragon in silence.

There was a pregnant pause before the mayor coughed, and turned to address the ponies. "Well, it is late, and I do need to prepare for tomorrow's town meeting." She shot a look at Shining Armor, "It is for the adults to be aware of the Princess and the importance of their silence on the matter. I am leaving Miss Cheerilee and the parents to tell their kids about Princess Luna. If you wish to attend, it will be ten in the morning."

Shining Armor nodded his head slightly. "We'll see." He _was_ going to go, he _had_ to get a feel of the town and the ponies, but he wasn't sure if it would be good for Princess Luna to go for herself or the town's ponies.

Nodding her head back to the Captain of the Royal Guards, Mayor Mare turned her attention to the ponies and drake around her. "Goodnight then, Captain Shining Armor, Miss Twilight Sparkle, Miss Rarity, Miss Fluttershy, Miss Applejack, Miss Rainbow Dash, Mister Spike, Your Highness." She gave each a proper, respectful nod ending with a deep bow to Princess Luna, who was standing still, free from the magic shield. With a click of the door, the mayor of Ponyville left the library.

There was an awkward silence which filled the room, with Twilight glaring at her brother, Shining Armor sighing as he attempted to get his breath back, Rarity looking at the mess with an annoyed _tsk_ , Fluttershy looking off to the side, Applejack rubbing her eyes, Rainbow Dash fluttering in the air slightly uneasily, Spike rubbing his tail and Princess Luna shuffling on her hooves slightly, biting her lip as she drew into herself again.

It was Rainbow Dash that broke the proverbial ice. "Sorry Princess, you really missed out on a totally awesome party." She rubbed the back of her neck, looking at the destroyed party favours. "Pinkie Pie has _the_ best parties ever!" She laughed, picking up some food that wasn't too destroyed and wasn't on the floor face down and started to munch on it.

"Yes, and the darling always put her heart into it." Rarity started to move the furniture back into their upright position with her magic, using a simple spell to direct the brooms to clean up the mess.

"W- we see…" Luna mumbled, looking at the floor sadly. She felt terrible at ruining a celebration party for her friend. She looked at the torn welcome banner, seeing part of it welcoming Shining Armor to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie had gone to such lengths and she had _ruined_ it!

"Don't worry sugarcube," the apple farmer pulled her into a hug, chuckling softly. "Ah'm sure that Pinkie Pie is already planning another one for the both of ya." She bit back a yawn, really needing to get some rest so she could tend to her chores in the morning properly.

Nodding numbly for a moment, the alicorn looked up at the mare next to her confused. "Both?"

There was a subtle gasp from the ponies, all looking at each other worried. Before Luna could even think what that meant, another one of the Elements leaned in to comfort her.

"O- of course, your Highness." Fluttershy said calmly, her usual meekness fading away. "Anypony that comes to Ponyville gets one." She nuzzled the alicorn of the night, who seemed to breathing heavier now. "And I'm sure that she will be making a new party for both of you right now, and it will be even better than this one."

"B- but why, we were here before…" She muttered, biting back some tears. She was _not_ a little filly, she was _not_ going to cry!

"Well, I don't think _that_ time really counts, Luna." The daredevil mare rolled her eyes as she laid about on the sofa. "'Sides, she won't stop until she gives ya one. Nothing can stop her when she was wants to throw a friend a party!" Her chuckles were stopped when she heard the soft sobs, turning her head to the princess.

"She dost consider Us a friend?" Luna asked, hiding behind her wings, but she was peeking out from her feathers, looking straight at her. Weird, only a foal would do that – wait, the princess was _looking_ at her! Looking around the room for what to do, she saw Shining Armor wave his hoof in a way that meant continue.

"Well, _yeah_ ," she rubbed her head, more than a bit confused to see Princess Luna like this. "I mean, I've know Pinks for a long time now, and she only really gets _that_ excited when she's planning a party for a friend." She was not good with emotions but she felt some sort of protective instinct inside her, telling her to nuzzle the mare and wrap her wings around her. Which she did. "A- are you okay, Princess?" She blushed, wondering _why_ the bucking Tartarus she just did that!

"Ye- yes, we art most fine, my little pony," Luna mumbled, lying poorly, moving away from the comforting mass of ponies and to the solid wall. "We – we, require the lavatories. If thou may guide Us towards thy location to relieve ourselves…"

Spike pointed at a door to the common bathroom, to which Luna numbly stepped into and slammed the door shut with all the grace a princess could.

With a soft click of the door and the sound of running water, Shining Armor looked at the confused ponies and drake in front of him. Whispering softly, he smiled gently and sadly, "Thank you girls. I know it might not seem like it, but that really helped her." He sighed, rubbing his eyes. He was aware that Luna was either crying again or listening at the door, certainly not using the bathroom to relieve herself.

"What the hay is going on!" Rainbow Dash angrily pushed a hoof towards him, her wings lifting her up in the air. She let out a yelp as Applejack grabbed her tail and yanked her down.

"Dash!" Applejack glared at her friend, and then at the stallion. "Ah'm sure he can 'xplain what the hey is going on here."

"Outside," he narrowed his eyes, knowing he wouldn't be able to get rid of them but it wouldn't do Luna any good to hear what they were going to talk about. Using his magic, he opened the door and started a mental countdown as he stepped outside.

The Elements followed him out, gesturing at Spike to stay inside. Shining Armor would have felt better if somepony with the ability to do magic had stayed, but this was good enough.

"Do _any_ of you have _any_ idea how Luna spends her time at the palace?"

"Uh, ain't she with her sister?" Applejack rubbed the back of her head confused.

"Yes, sometimes." He rolled his eyes, keeping his attention to the library. "But that's usually only at dinner or breakfast, as their duties keep them busy and apart from each other."

"Duties?" Rainbow Dash blinked, for the first time really thinking about what a Princess _did_.

"Yes, signing bills, meeting dignitaries, but the biggest part of their duties is the public court." A lie, but it was a needed lie to get the mares thinking.

The mares gave him an understanding nod, as they all heard about the Day Court.

"So Princess Luna has opened her own court?" Rarity purred out, curious how the night princess would run her court. Princess Luna was from a time when strength and straightforwardness was dominant, so ponies trying to play mind games with her would be in for a rude awakening.

"Yes, and it's a good time for her to finish a ton of bills as no pony has come to see her yet."

They gave a surprised gasp at this.

"Those meanies!" He looked surprised at the frowning yellow pegasus. "Why would they do that to her!"

"Think for a moment who she is or _was_." He frowned, staring back at her. There was a short period before they all blushed and looked to the side ashamed.

"Are ponies _that_ afraid of her?" Twilight asked, looking at her hooves, still trying to figure it out. Why would anypony be that mean to Princess Luna; didn't they know that Nightmare Moon was gone and that staying away from Luna was what- She gasped, as the thought hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Yes Twily." He nodded his head, wondering if she realized. "Most ponies are scared of her, as all they have are old mare's stories about her and they base all the correct Princess-like attitudes on Princess Celestia and they are not _that_ alike."

"The poor dear." Rarity was dabbing her eyes, getting rid of her tears and starting to seethe with anger. "And to think those brutes at the motherbucking bureaucracy dared to for-" 

"Miss Rarity, this, as you no doubt read in the paper, is _her_ decision." Shining Armor frowned, leaning in close. The timer in his head was nearing zero, he would need to go inside quickly. "They _wanted_ to help her, and I think this is going to help her." He smiled a bit, thinking at how much more the Princess was smiling already, seeming to be at ease now. "Look, I need to get back inside and it is late." He smiled more, feeling a bit more at ease. Of any of the ponies in this town, the Elements were the ponies he knew he could trust the most with Luna's… problems.

Bidding them all good night, he walked back inside with his little sister and closed the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.  
**Author's note 1:** This fic is the brainchild of Evilhumour, and is primarily beta-read and co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr. (the original also featured aid from Foal's Errand from chapters 3-9). This version contains minor edits to the overall work in order to correct previously missed errors. We humbly ask that you read, review and enjoy.  
**Author's note 2:** Chapter post dates - 2014-06-12 (FIMFiction Dot Net), 2020-01-01 (Archive Of Our Own).

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

With a click, the door was locked. Twilight Sparkle looked at her brother, wondering what else she could do for the Princess in her house who was drinking hot cocoa from one her mugs, laughing with her number one assistant.

Twilight looked at her for a moment. She seemed _smaller_ than when she and her friends had defeated Nightmare Moon and brought her back to Equestria. It took her a second to realize that it was due to the fact she wasn't wearing her royal garments. She knew that Princess Celestia always seemed a bit shorter, less dominating, less alicorny and more pony like when was she wasn't wearing her regalia and Princess Luna was already smaller than Princess Celestia.

 _Luna really looks like an average pony_ , Twilight realized. Ignore the horn and wings and the very distinctive cutie mark, and she could pass for a slightly overgrown earth pony teen, maybe on the cusp of proper marehood.

 _It wasn't the fact that she's an_ alicorn _she was so tall_ , Twilight thought as she looked over the princess, who turned to face her and started to giggle with the dragon. _It was due to the fact she had amplified_ earth pony _magic in her that made her bigger, taller, and possibly stronger than everypony else._

"Well, that's Twily for you, Luna," Shiny laughed, patting her on the back, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Huh, whut?" she blinked in confusion, causing the other three to laugh again, with Princess Luna placing a hoof over her mouth to try and hold back her growing giggles. Even though it was certainly a joke on herself, just hearing the Princess laugh made her feel better. Maybe it was because Luna used to have Laughter as one of her Elements? The other two were Loyalty and Honesty, if her research was correct. Maybe there was something more to making ponies happy with just laughing-

"Twily?" Shining waved a hoof in her face, startling her again. "You okay? You zoned out again."

"Yes, yes," she blushed as she spoke, shaking her head, not really caring what everypony was laughing at. "How are you feeling Princess?" Even though she said she didn't have the title anymore, it would still be rude to call her Luna _justlikeherbrotherwasdoing_ , she thought to herself. _Whywashedoingthat,_ her racing mind questioned, trying to figure out why her _stupid_ brother was doing this.

"B–better, loyal subj-" Luna stamped her hoof on the floor, looking annoyed for a moment, her brother letting out an amused snort. " _Twilight,_ " she forced herself to cough, glaring at Shining Armor like Twilight would do when he was being an annoying big brother. "You brew a fine drink, youngling." She smiled softly at Spike, who beamed at the praise. "I dare say that we shall partake in this," she blinked, biting her tongue a bit, "cocoa?" she waited for a nod, which she got. "In the future. Far superior to tea." She sipped again, eyes closing in contentment. 

"Well, I don't think you can take it in your normal _cask_ manner," Shining teased, causing the mare to blush and snort, holding a hoof to her face as a bit of cocoa shot off her nostrils.

"Shin-"

"He's right Princess," Spike said as he elbowed her, smirking as he spoke. "I don't think you can store cocoa in a cask."

"True, little one, but you _could_ pour the contents into one…" she rubbed her chin with her fetlock, apparently actually thinking about this.

"Great, Spike," Shining groaned playfully, rolling his eyes. "Now we're going to have to deal with massive cocoa drinks." Spike stuck out his tongue at the stallion, with Princess Luna laughing more, putting down her mug as she was starting to hold her barrel. Twilight herself had to bite back a light chuckle, caught up in the laughter as she did not really understand what the joke was.

Shining Armor let out a yawn, shaking his head. "Twily, it's a bit late and we should be getting to sleep."

"Maybe _you_ need to rest, but I do not require additional slumber," Princess Luna said as she brought herself upright, shaking her blue mane. Folding her wings flush to her body, she stared at Shining Armor.

He held the look for a moment before putting a small, knowing smirk on his face. "Do you remember what Princess Celestia asked?"

That startled the alicorn for a second; her eyes widening, feathers shuffling and a slight scuffle of hooves on the floor. "Yes, we do remember what she said," she replied before raising the mug to her mouth and drinking it all in one shot. Biting back a yawn, the Princess handed over the mug to Spike. "Twilight Sparkle, can you lead U- us," as she spoke, she looked at Shining Armor for confirmation, and then watched as he nodded his head. "Can you lead Shining Armor and I to a place to rest?" 

"Sure, Spike has got the guest beds set for you two." She smiled, pointing to the more private wing of the library, where the sole guest room was. "Sorry, but there's not that much room here." She blushed, opening the door for Shining. "I hope you don't mind sleeping with me your Highness." She chuckled, rubbing a hoof across her neck. Shining groaned, slapping his hoof across his face.

"Twily, that's _not_ okay," he groaned, looking at the floor. He glanced at the room; it was small with one entrance, a window far too small for anypony to sneak in and he could cast a simple protection spell to enforce it enough to prevent any attack, enchanting it enough to give him some time to get Luna out of there and deal with whatever came through. "Just let me go over the window with a spell and then you can go back to sleep, okay?" He watched the Princess nod her head, and stepped past his flabbergasted sister. Performing the protection spell, he looked over the room to make sure it was truly empty. Seeing that it was, he nodded the Princess into the room. She slipped under the blankets quickly, already yawning and starting to doze off as her head touched the pillow. She wished them all a goodnight as Shining closed the door.

Shining Armor bit back his own yawn, desperately wanting to rest his own hooves, but that would wait until he searched the rest of the house. He took a step before Twily placed a hoof into his chest, glaring at him. 

"We need to talk, _now_ ," she said as she pointed to the kitchen, her horn glowing. "And I don't want to wake up Pr-"

"Twily, it's bucking late," he grumbled as he frowned at her and then stepped around her. "I need to do a sweep of the house, and I still need to get some sleep before going to that meeting." Groaning, he shook his head, trying to make sure he was alert enough to do a proper search but not enough to prevent sleep later on.

With an undignified meep, he found himself yanked by his tail and dragged into the kitchen by his sister's magic.

Oh no, he was _not_ going to deal with this.

"Look Shining, I know it's your duty to protect Princess Luna, but it's not right to address her so informally." She tsked at him, placing him on the floor. "And I don't think you need to be so rigid; I'm sure Princess Luna would have loved to sleep upstairs, maybe even enjoy looking at the stars and-"

His snort cut her off. "Twily, first you say you know it's my duty to protect Luna and now you're trying to tell me how to do _my_ job?" He raised an eyebrow at her, watching her sputter. "In case you didn't hear, I _don't_ know anything about this town or the ponies. Maybe if you _sent_ letters to me about your adventures, I could trust a few of them but I can't," she glared at him for using her limited social knowledge against her. "Secondly, I think I know how to deal with my charge and friend a bit better than _you_." He frowned at her, getting off the floor. "Now it's _late_ and I really want to make sure this place is secure so I can sleep as I've been up since yesterday." He turned around with a military perfect step, and walked out of the kitchen. He went to the front door, ensuring it was locked and sealed with a proper spell. Repeating the same spell for Luna's window, he covered the ground floor's windows. He was putting a hoof on the staircase when Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder. 

"You don't need to do my room Shiny," she said. He started to protest again when Twilight stuck her hoof into his mouth. "I've already got my own protection spell to prevent it being opened." Her horn glowed for a moment, and the sound of windows closing was heard.

* * *

For once, Shining Armor was glad his sister could outdo his own area of magical expertise with ease. It was _embarrassing_ to have his little sister able to do better protection spells than him, with Cadance teasing him to ask her for lessons! 

A guy had to have _some_ pride when his magic aura was a girly shade of magenta!

With a tight hug, he nuzzled his sister before going back down to the couch. Closer to Luna, closer to the ground floor and there was no _way_ he was going to sleep in the same room with his little sister!

Shuddering, and uttering " _eeeew_ " several times, he finally unleashed a mighty pent up yawn, dropped the very heavy saddlebags, curled up on the sofa, smiled as his sister floated down a pillow and nice quilt blanket for him and was quickly asleep. 

Soon, the only sounds that were heard were the snores of three little ponies and the groans of one poor dragon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.  
**Author's note 1:** This fic is the brainchild of Evilhumour, and is primarily beta-read and co-written by Anon e Mouse Jr. (the original also featured aid from Foal's Errand from chapters 3-9). This version contains minor edits to the overall work in order to correct previously missed errors. We humbly ask that you read, review and enjoy.  
**Author's note 2:** Chapter post dates - 2014-06-27 (FIMFiction Dot Net), 2020-01-01 (Archive Of Our Own).

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

It was early in the day, with the sun barely rising when Shining Armor woke up with a thud as he rolled off the couch. Shaking himself awake, he snapped his head towards where the Princess was sleeping.

Levitating the blanket off, he opened the door to see the Princess flat on her back, sprawled out and still asleep. Her wings were twitching around, her powder blue mane covering only a bit of her face with the rest in a mess on the single pillow which remained on the bed, the others having been knocked to the ground due to her tossing. Thankfully, her blanket was covering everything below the navel as nearly every mare in his life would _kill_ him if he saw _that!_

Hearing her dreadful snores told him she was okay, if not needing some sort of medical treatment for her snoring as it was extremely _bad_. Dad had received some treatment and was no longer thrown out the window by Mom when he snored.

Closing the door, he turned his attention to get some much needed coffee. Walking into the kitchen, his hoof bumped into something squishy and scaly. Blinking, he looked down to see Spike was on the floor with a roll of duct tape at his foreclaws –feet, as Spike called them - with pillows taped to his head. 

Chuckling, he lifted the dragon onto the sofa with his magic and started to make passable coffee and a simple breakfast. While making his morning grub, he started to roll the kinks out of his shoulders, wincing from the pain of sleeping on the sofa, carrying those saddle bags _and_ lifting Luna around. Despite her small size, she was as _heavy_ as a full grown stallion and if Princess Celestia was right, she would be getting even bigger and _heavier_ in a short amount of time.

Flinching from the taste of the coffee he'd made, he remembered exactly _why_ Cadance was in charge of breakfast when he slept over with her. Pouring out the blend and placing his dishes into the sink, he glanced at the time. It was not nine yet, but it would take time to get to where they were headed, and figure out how to get there. Walking towards the stairs and making sure to tuck in Spike, he went to his sister's room.

Pausing to decide whether to either knock on the door or just go in, he settled on a compromise of the two, peeking his head in first and knocking on the inside of the door. With a groan, a bundle of fur rose up from the bed and shot him a look of questioning the decision of being woken up at eight forty in the morning and how poor it was for his continued survival.

"Hey Twily, you up?"

A groan and a flung pillow was the response, before the mare shook off her blankets and stared at him and then at the empty bed of Spike.

"Spike?" she called out, looking for the number one dragon. "Where-"

"Downstairs, with pillows taped to his head," Shining laughed softly, biting back a yawn. "Look, I'm going to that town's meeting and I need you to watch over Luna," he watched her rub her eyes. "In the library, of course."

 _That_ got her attention. "Shining, I know-"

"Twily-"

"Let me finish, please," she held up a hoof, forcing Shining to wait. "I know you don't trust anypony in town, I know you _can't_ ," she sighed, looking at the floor. "But she's an _alicorn_ and I'm _very_ good at magic. I don't think there could be much of a threat that we can't deal with and with so many ponies at the town meeting today, I don't think there will be anypony outside. Plus, I can go on routes that will be near safe places."

Sighing, Shining Armor weighed the options to tell her the _truth_. On one hoof, it _would_ shut her up about taking Luna out where he couldn't watch over her and make sure she was in a safe location. On the other hoof, however, this was matter of national security and if it got out, there would be _Tartarus_ to pay and it would come out of _his_ flanks.

"Look Twily, what I am going to tell you _cannot_ leave this room," he narrowed his eyes. "Not your friends, not Spike, not even the Princesses can know I told you," he _hoped_ she had enough tact to not say anything to Luna, he really did. "But Luna _doesn't_ have that much magical strength right now," he watched her gasp. "She could move the moon, turn into smoke and all that, but doing all that will drain her quickly and leave her defenseless, and I don't think she'll be the type to run away from a fight. Especially if somepony that she considers a friend is at risk," He pointed a hoof at her, and drove the point home. "I know that you _don't_ know many combat spells other than to tell a stallion no means **no** and that neither of you would leave a pony behind, putting _both_ of you in danger."

She sighed, looking at the floor and bit her lip. "I- I'm sorry Shining, I just thought that it would be good for Luna to get out and-"

"It's okay Twily," he hugged her tightly, rubbing her back. "I agree with ya. It _would_ be nice for her to get out and be with ponies, but right now, she's not at her best and I'm the only pony here that can properly protect her," he frowned, bopping her nose to get the point across. "Your job is to research the magic of friendship, not her safety." She started to protest, but Shining shook his head. "You can help out, but don't fixate on it." He smiled, pulling her back into a hug. "I trust you and your friends will be a big help to her education?" he teased his little sister.

"Yup!" She smiled, eyes darting towards a rolled up scroll. "I kinda looked up what kind of stuff that they teach in hig-"

He laughed and noogied her. "Don't worry about that Twily. We've got that covered." Patting her back, he took the chance to ruffle her mane, ducking a swat to his face for his actions. "Just be a friend to her, okay? Remember how it was for you." She pulled back, blinking and then nodded her head.

"I get it."

"Good," he smiled back at his sister. "She's still snoring down there. Let her sleep in." she nodded her head again, "So can you point me in the right direction?"

* * *

Madam Mayor Mare looked at the crowd of ponies and bit back a sigh. For once, it was nearly a full house which was rare. She saw the nervous looks from the ponies in the room, with the Captain of the Royal Guards off to the side, eying the crowd. Thankfully, he was in full armor as that would help calm ponies down if they began to panic.

She saw Time Tuner walk into the room, with Derpy right behind him, the last two ponies she was expecting to show up.

Well, it was showtime.

Walking up to the podium, she cleared her throat, getting everypony's attention.

"I do suppose you are all wondering the purpose of this little meeting," she coughed, chuckling a bit. She looked at the ponies in front of her. "As you are aware, Princess Luna has decided to take time to re-educate herself in these modern times. It is with great pride I inform you all that she has chosen our fair town as her first stop, if not the sole place, for this re-education to occur." She beamed at the crowd which wasn't reacting in any discernible way. They were stunned, unsure of how to react to the announcement. "Our own Cheerilee has already set a plan to introduce this matter to our foals, but I do advise you to explain to your own children about the importance of showing not only respect, but _understanding_ to Princess Luna." She paused, thinking of how… _timid_ she had been last night, and how quiet she was during the whole party disaster event last night. "If there are any-"

"Why is _she_ here?" A scared voice called out from the crowd, many others agreeing with the pony.

"I assume Princess Luna is here as this _was_ the place that she was returned to us." The mayor paused, realizing that Ponyville had now the rare claim that they brought back a Princess of Equestria to the nation, suck on that Cloudsdale! "I do think she wishes to honour us by returning here for her journey back to normalcy."

"Bu- but, she's Nightmare Moon!" another voice called out, still frightened of the dark mare that almost brought eternal night.

"She is Princess _Luna_ , and I don't think she would appreciate to be called that horrid name!" Mayor Mare frowned, trying to figure out who said that.

"You know, I don't remember hearing of another princess growing up," a stallion called out, barely any fear in his voice, only anger. "The Princess has always risen the sun and moon and I don't see why some random _child_ we know nothing about is now a bucking Princess!" There were more shouts of anger now, a mob was starting to form.

"Cease your yelling!" she shouted, silencing them. One of the more important tools to a politician was how loud they could shout and Mayor Mare was no exception. "Princess _Celestia_ has her reasons for not telling us of Princess _Luna_ , but–"

"We don't _need_ her!" a voice called out, one of the Flower sisters. "We don't need Luna, we have _Princess Celestia_!" she cried out; a thunder of agreement behind her.

Withholding a smile, making sure she kept her voice neutral for her next move, she shot a look at Shining Armor to stay where he was. This _filly_ had stepped into one of the oldest tricks in the political book and she was going to _enjoy_ this.

"Do you really think that?" she asked innocently, watching her nod and other ponies agree with her. "Okay then." She paused, letting the words sink into the crowd. "You have until tonight to leave Ponyville."

There was a stunned silence in the crowd, letting the _word_ sink in. The filly stammered, looking wide eyed. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"I said we do not need a flower shop anymore. Please pack up your belongings and leave Ponyville by tonight."

There was a gasp of disbelief from the crowd with the elder of Flower sisters hugging her sobbing sister. "You can't do this!" she shouted, with a hoof pointing towards the mayor, the crowd agreeing with her.

"Why not?" She did her best not to smirk, but it was tugging at her face.

"You can't just throw a pony out of town!" A stallion shouted, with more getting riled up.

"Why not? I said to leave and I expect her and her sisters to be gone." She said it a fake confused tone. Just say the line…

"What gives you that right to tell a pony that she is no longer wanted!?" A mare bellowed at her.

There it was! "What gives _you_ the right to tell a pony that she is no longer wanted after being gone for so long!" she shouted, getting the point across. They all stopped yelling, looking confused and embarrassed with the point smacked across their heads.

"It's not the same," a timid voice called out, still bit of defiance. "She was sent away because she tried to overthrow the Princess."

"And do you know _why_ she did that?" the mayor snapped, angry now for the blue alicorn filly she'd briefly met last night. "How many of you actually remember the old stories of Nightmare Moon?" Her eyes accused the crowd. "It was because Princess Luna felt so disrespected, unwanted, and unloved by _all_ the ponies of Equestria, that she went to such lengths! It was because of ponies like you that drove her to such desperation, that she felt she needed to bring eternal night to get any attention!" She slammed her hoof into the podium, her anger falling out. "Can any of you imagine such neglect from _everypony_ around you?" She paused, her own words starting sink inside herself. "To… to," she slumped onto her rear, starting to really think from what it must have been like to be Pri- _Luna_ back then. It was _horrifying_ , a wave of a shame slamming into her, and by the looks of the ponies in the crowd, they were feeling the same.

A stab of fear hit her suddenly, wondering _why_ Princess Celestia hadn't done anything to save her, as Princess Celestia was _never_ one to neglect her ponies. But Princess Luna still became Nightmare Moon...

Shaking her head slightly, forcing those ponderings away for the moment, she stood up to the podium. "I hope… if there are no more questions, I do believe I will call this meeting to a close."

There was no outcry this time, just numb shame. And then, a voice called out, proposing something to do to Princess Luna. It was quickly swept up by the ponies, and for once, the mayor let the mob rule.

* * *

Twilight had to admit, Princess Luna was far better than Princess Celestia. Normally, Princess Celestia would attack without mercy, leaving no room for anypony to get anything, scaring everypony and many things in ruin.

Princess Luna, on the other hoof, was kind enough to leave some pancakes for Spike and her to actually eat, despite her obvious joy as she ate Spike's infamous pancakes.

"Oh dear, _dear_ Spike, if thou were a pony, 'twould be assured that thou cutie mark would be that of gourmet!" She bit into another one, her fork dripping with syrup with a bit of pancake still attached. She had moved from careful, dainty cuts with her knife into rough slashes with her fork and mouth with such gusto that it would have horrified any of the elites in the capital.

Still, compared to her older sister, Luna was still eating with all the refinery of a royal such that Rarity hoped to meet one day.

Spike beamed at the praises, happy to have both of the Royal Princess Sisters' seal of approval on his cooking. "Thank you, your highness!" He grinned and elbowed Twilight. "You kinda have to learn to cook with Twilight around," he teased, ignoring the annoyed glare from the unicorn. "Although, it's good to have some for myself for once," he blushed, remembering how often Celestia would swoop in and steal the entire plate as soon as he put it down on the table. "The Princess is not too fond of sharing if you know what I mean."

"Oh?" Luna lifted the glass of milk to her lips, pausing to hear a story of her sister.

"Yeah, Princess Celestia usually just nabs it before anypony else can get any." He rolled his eyes, enjoying his work for once.

Luna giggled again, enjoying seeing her infallible sister so fallible for once. "It does explain her thighs." She continued to laugh, shaking her head merrily. 

Twilight gasped, leaping to her mentor's side, going to berate the pony that dared to insult her before remembering it _was_ Princess Luna.

"Art th- you okay Twilight?" She raised an eyebrow in concern, leaning in close.

"Ye-yes Princess Luna." She muttered weakly, trying to bite back her scolding.

"Truly?" The unicorn nodded, drinking her milk. "It seems to me that you are trying not to scold me for insulting my sister."

Spike's laugh was as genuine as the squirt of milk coming from the nostrils of the Element of Magic, blushing at her words.

"Worry not Twilight, 'tis the job of a younger sibling to make sure that the elder one is not so high and mighty." She smirked, winking at Twilight and causing more laughter from the three around the table.

Luna closed her eyes as she bit into another pancake, enjoying the conversation far more than the meal. She felt, for once, just _average_. There was no fear, no judgement, just one pony treating her like an equal. While she did enjoy the finery of Canterlot as it was where her sister was, she felt more at ease than she had in a very long time. The last time, she recalled, was when she was fighting alongside her ponies, defending her nation from some threat. It was grand battle; fighting wing to wing, horn to horn, hoof to hoof and blade to blade with her fellow ponies. It gave her an extra drive to hold back those foes, feeling at ease with her fellow ponies in the midst of battle.

Giggling, Luna had placed another pancake into her mouth, the sum long lost in her ravenous joy, when the door was _thumped_ on. Looking at Twilight, she saw the other mare had jumped and dashed over to the door before Luna could move. It was clear that Twilight was trying to keep her inside, and while it was insulting for a Princess to be forced to stay inside, she did appreciate the effort that Twilight and Spike were putting forth to make her at ease.

Sitting awkwardly on her seat, she held her glass and looked around the room. Flashing a filly-like grin to the dragon- Spike, she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Pr – Princess Luna," Twilight called out, her voice shaking. "There's a crowd of ponies that want to see you."

Instantly, Luna flew from the kitchen to the front of the library. She used her magic to quickly pull out her regalia from one of the saddle bags; snapping on her torc, slipping on her royal shoes and putting her crown onto her head. She made sure her mane and coat were sleek, and that she was ready to meet the ponies.

She took one step closer to Twilight Sparkle and had to bite down on the inside _hard_ as she felt her coat was pinched from her torc, and the fact she had managed to put all four shoes on the wrong hooves. It would be poor manners on her part to take off her shoes and torc, but _bucking Tartarus it hurt!_

As she stepped next to Twilight, she had to remind herself that she had been through several wars, fought against mad gods, toppled empires and nearly bested the sun itself. She had fought with injuries in the past, once with a javelin stuck in her side for the better part of ten hours, a sword for twelve hours, and a knife in her back for an unknown amount of time that was only found after Celestia had tackled her to floor to see what Luna had been rubbing at for the last month or so.

Then why the bucking buck _buck_ Tartarus was this hurting so much more?!

Nodding her head at Twilight, the mare opened the door to a strange sight that almost made the alicorn dart back inside and hide in the bathroom. It was nearly all the adults of Ponyville, with the mayor standing at the front.

"Yes my little ponies?" She raised an eyebrow, wondering why they were all here. A bit of fear was rising up within her, wondering if they were going to try and chase her-

"Your Highness," the Mayor trembled, looking so sad and so disappointed with her face damp with old tears. "We've been talking and we realized something." There was a soft muttering from the crowd, drawing Luna's eyes to them. "We wish to apologize to you."

Blinking, Luna stopped herself from stepping back from years of royal decorum being drilled into her head, namely involving her sister sending a bolt of magic across her moons when she stumbled over her own hooves or belched out the alphabet.

"You have done no wrong unto me. What do you wish to make amends for?"

The Mayor rubbed her eyes, tears flowing down her face, in… shame? _What_ had happened at that meeting?

"It's for our ancestors and what they did to _you_." She paused, trying be strong. "Equestria was built on a notion of acceptances of all, that friendship is truly important for a nation to flourish. It was _wrong_ of them to shun you just because you worked at night, _wrong_ of them to ignore you because you were not your sister." She paused, looking at the crowed who nodded their heads. "It was wrong of us to do the same. I know, _we_ know, that you did horrible things but it _is_ our nature to forgive and forget. We've all made stupid, _stupid_ mistakes in fits of loneliness and sadness. We've hurt those close to us, and yet because of the ideals that we base our nation on, we have managed to move past and live in peace once again." She moved closer to the stunned Princess, whose mouth was hanging low, wings open in shock and her eyes starting to tear up. "We are sorry for failing you, my Princess." She bowed with the rest of the crowd, tears running down their faces as their shame was revealed once again.

"Ne- neigh, my little ponies." She was crying now, not caring at all who saw. "You have **nothing** to apologize for, for your actions have-" She shook her head, losing the ability to think now.

So she acted.

With all her grace, she brought the Mayor into a hug, wrapping her front legs and wings around the earth pony's withers. She cried her gratitude, her delight, her joy, her _self_ into the shoulder of pony who rubbed her back out of instinct.

With a soft whisper, Luna found the right words.

"Thank you."


End file.
